There are some books that you read which end up leaving an indelible impression on you. On the other hand, there are some which might have been published years later and still come across as a shoddy attempt to piece together words of advice from various sources with little original to add. I believe books are a work of love and generally refrain from going so turbo and harsh for any of them. However, some books really challenge your patience and my book this week ranks pretty high on the top of such challenges that I can remember. In some ways, “Wealth can’t wait” by David Osborn and Paul Morris, ended being a stereotypical self-help book, the kinds of which have previously turned me off the category altogether.
Wealth can’t wait… But, the book?
I am definitely a proponent of a lot of the ideas presented by the duo in the book – “Wealth can’t wait”. Positive mindset? Check. Goal setting? Check. Have a vision of where you want to go? Check.
My problem is the sketchy way in which it was written. It all came across as preachy, inauthentic and very dull, to be honest. One of the possibilities is that I have already read so many of such books that one more added to the pile was bound to topple it all over. However, looking at a 4.2 rating for the book on Goodreads was quite a shocker to me.
Making this my skimpiest book babble post probably ever, I will keep it limited to the meat of the book which the authors call the 7 steps to wealth. A lot of what I talk could end up including some of the things that I have picked up and absorbed from my other readings on the subject.
7 habits to wealth
As defined by the authors, one should follow the following 7 steps to wealth because wealth can’t wait:
Habit #1 Live life by design
Simply put, have a vision for your life. Decide and define what you would like your life to look like, and even what success means in your books. Once you have a destination in mind, then only can you chart out a route map towards it. Also, once you do have a destination in mind, take action towards it and let it not all be futile.
Habit #2 Make business decisions based on solid fundamentals
As portrayed by the book, a job is not your route to wealth. If you want wealth, you must have a business and that business should be defined by doing things that can stand the test of time. In some ways, it just felt like a nudge to a real estate business, as operated by the authors themselves.
Habit #3 Stick with what you know and drill deep
You can go horizontal spreading yourself too thin and trying out everything. Or you can choose to go vertical where you stick to one thing and then drill deeper to knowing and doing it. Frankly, I don’t agree that you have to stick with what you know. For a long part of my work life, I knew only marketing. Had I stuck on to that, I would have never found my way to Personal Finance. I would rather say, that if you find a passion, drill deep and know whatever you can to it. If you are passionate about your work, it will show and wealth is often a result of a labour of love, sweat and passion.
Habit #4 Earn more by learning more
This is something I completely vouch for. Being a continuous learner is an important skill to have in life. In my mind, always wanting to learn is really more of a life skill that can open many doors rather than just the one to plain old wealth. The more you learn, the more you grow, as a person and as an individual. Earning more then becomes a by-product.
Habit #5 Chunk down big goals and add accountability
Sometimes, big, grand goals can seem overwhelming and intimidating enough to be completely given up on. However, once you chunk them down into small bite-sized pieces they seem far more doable. Adding accountability is definitely another key factor. When you look inward and make it more action oriented then excuses about extraneous uncontrollable factors feature far less in your life’s narrative. For instance, writing a novel might seem big and scary. But, maybe you can break it down to an action point of writing 1000 words a day.
Habit #6 Spend less than you earn and invest the rest
This is really as basic as it gets in Personal Finance. You must have a gap between your earnings and your spending, which must be invested in ways and means that grow the money at a faster rate than inflation eating it away. The authors do not go much into detail here and do not once mention the darling of American Personal Finance community – index funds. They simply talk about research investing options and putting in money in industries or sectors that you understand well. To me, it was another nudge towards real estate, the favoured investing haven of the authors.
Habit#7 Let go of the small stuff
The authors talk about this habit in two ways – one, if you want to grow big, you cannot manage the smallest of the stuff which must be outsourced or delegated and two, know when to see the big picture and drop the small stuff that does not matter in the long run.
While the book covers a lot of other aspects like mindset, 4 pillars of wealth and some basics about starting a business, I do believe there are far better books out there for all those areas than the one I struggled to read.
Have you read “Wealth Can’t Wait”? If yes, what did you make out of it? Let me know in the comments below.
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